Aerial transporter



H. COANDA.

- AERIAL TRANSPORTER- APPLICATIQN FILED AFR. 1920' 1,344,677. PatentedJune 29, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET H. COANDA. AERIAL TRANSPORTER. APPLICATION FILED APR. I.I920.

Patented June 29, 1920.

3 SHEETS- SHEET 2.

H. COANDA.

AERIAL TRANSPORTER. APPLICATION map APR. 1, 1920.

- 1,344,677. PatentedJune 29,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED HENRI COANDA, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

AERIAL TRANSPORTER.

Application filed April 1,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HnNRr OOANDA, engineer, 34 Rue de la Verrerie, atParis, citizen of the French Republic, residing at Paris, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Aerial Transporters, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Aerial transporters in present-day use designed for transportingmaterials from one point to another, consist of a cage which issuspended by means of pulleys on a cable track, and the cage is pulledby a second cable driven by a motor located on the ground, this tractorcable being wound on and unwound from windlasses.

Such apparatus is suitable for transporting materials only overrelatively short distances owing to the elongation of the tractor cableby reason of the permanent pulling strains to which it is subjected.

Moreover, with such transporters it is impossible to attain the highspeeds that would allow of employing them for the transport ofpassengers.

lhe present invention has for its object to provide an improved aerialtransporter which is applicable for transporting passengers and goodsand in which the tractor cable and the drawbacks resulting therefrom aredispensed with, while allowing of attaining the maximum speed hithertoreached by transport on roads or on railways.

of the said carriage.

Fig. 7 is a partial horizontal. section.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the general arrangement of'the improvedtransporter.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic vertical section of the carriage .in itspassage over a cablesupporting tower.

Fig. 10 is likewise a diagrammatic side view of the upper end of atower.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 29, 1920.

Serial No. 370,605.

Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively a side view and a plan of the mechanismfor keeping the cable taut.

Figs. 13 and let are respectively a side view and a plan of a modifiedconstruction of the entire transporter.

"Figs. 15 and 16 are diagrammatic plans of two other constructionalmodifications.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the improved aerialtransporter comprises a cage or cabin a suspended in any suitable mannerby suitable connections 6 terminating at their upper ends in a trolleyframe in which are mounted two plates 0 carrying rollers 61 adapted toroll along a cable or trolley wire 6. i

Electric current coming from the trolley wire 6 actuates through themedium of a flexible wire f (that is connected at one end to one of therollers (Z and at its other end to an electric motor 9 fixed inside thecabin a) a screw propeller h located in front of the cabin a. V

A supplementary roller 2' carried by a bracket 7' fixed on the frame ofthe two front rollers d, is in contact with an earth-return cable 70,and it is connected to the electric motor 9 by means of a flexibleconductor Z In order to prevent the cabin from falling in case of thebreakage of the trolley wire 0, there may be arranged, as shown in Fig.4, one or more supplementary trolley wires m located beneath and in thesame plane as the trolley wire 6, so that the rollers (i will drop insuccession upon each of these trolley. wires in the case of the breakageof the trolley wire situated immediately above it.

In practice, and as shown in Figs. 5 to 7,

each of the carriages from which the cabin a. is suspended, comprisesfour coupled rollers d on two axles (Z and having grooves (l of rubberadapted to come in contact with the outer cheek of each of the rollersd. The

j axles 0 carrying the rollers n are connected elastically to the axlesd of the rollers (Z by means of supports .p whose upper ends are shapedas sleeves in which the axles d are free to rotate, and are prolonged byarms terminating at their lower ends in extensible packings 19preferably of rubber,

from which the axles 0 of the rollers n are suspended. This elasticmounting of the rollers 'n allows the latter to move away from therollers (Z in passing over the towers as hereinafter described. Thevertical and rectilinear movement of the axles 0 is assured by pins 0fixed on the axles 0 and sliding in slots 22 in the fixed supports 79.The lower end of each of these supports terminates in a trolley frame 9in which are jointed rigid rods Z) carrying the cabin a.

The carriage comprises moreover a roller 7' rolling along a safety cable8 arranged above the rolling cables 6 e and completed by a second rollerr which is kept in contact with the safety cable and with the upperroller 1* by a spring 6 on which the axle of this second roller ismounted; the annular flanges of the rollers r and r being arrangedsymmetrically to the vertical axis of the safety cable for preventingsaid cable from disengaging the peripheries of the two rollers.

The entire carriage is inclosed in a casing a formed on its two faceswith orifices that are suitably located so as to allow of the passage ofthe rolling cables 6 c and of the safety cable 8.

The mounting of the rollers a on the elas tic packings p or upon thecountersprings, assures the contact of said rollers with the rollers (Zand prevents the rolling cables 6 e from passing out, while allowing therollers n to move away from the rollers cl so as to enable the fixedcable-supports to pass over the towers when the carriages arriveopposite the said towers.

The depression of the rollers n is produced by means of cams 1) (Figs. 9and 10) carried by the towers 42 and upon which are mounted fixed railsm that connect thetwo sections of the cables comprised between thetowers; the rollers (Z rolling along these fixed rails when thecarriages leave the cable in order to pass over the cam.

The tension of the cables, at the adjusting stations, is effected by theapparatus illustrated inFigs. 1.1 and 12, comprising chains or cables 3connected at one end to the rolling cables 0 c and acted upon at theirother ends by compensating weights 2 attached to their. free ends andexerting a pull upon the cables-e 6 through the medium of chains 1passing over suitably located pulleys land guide pulleys 2 located atthe junctions of the chains and, the rolling cables.

The rolling track constituted by two parallel cables allows oflocatingthe cabin a between the said two cables, as shown in Fig. 8,wherein, the carriages aremounted at the sides and in the horizontalaxis of the cabin. In this case the cabin is designed to. hold thepassengers and the pilot, whereas the propelling parts, motors gflscrewpropellers 7L1, electric storage batteries 7L fuel, etc., are carried incages 3 located directly underneath the cabin a and pivotally jointed tothe rigid arms 6 that are fixed to the carriages.

The apparatus may moreover comprise supporting parts, that is to say,wings or planes located on the lower cages 3 and designed. to overcomemore or less the frictional. resistance of the rolling cables. Theseplanes allow likewise the propelling body to resume its proper positionwhen for any reason the vehiclehas abandoned temporarily its normalvertical position, such a case occurring more particularly at the end ofahorizontal portion of the track where the vehicle has become inclinedby the action of centrifugal force, 01' accidentally by reason of alateral gust of wind. The planes may be operated automatically by apendulum or gyroscope arrangement or by controls actuated by the pilot,the latter having preferably before his eyes an apparatus for indicatingthe inclination of the whole arrangement.

Another construction of the whole arrangement shown in Figs. 13 and l tand more particularly applicable in the case of electric motors,comprises a cage at which is located between the two rolling cables 6 eand upon which the carriages are mounted. This cage is intended tocontain the electric storage batteries k and may also carry the pilotsseat (not shown). The cabin a is suspended underneath the cage l andcarries the screw propellers driven by motors situated at each end ofthe cabin whose central portion is reserved for the seating of thepassengers, this cabin being also if desired provided with a variablenumber of supporting wings.

The screw propellers may be arranged on each side of the cabin, onebehind the other, and may be of variable dimensions (Fig. 15) and drivenby motors located in the cabin, the shafts of which transmitting themotion to the screw propellers are arranged at right angles to thedirection of travel.

The screw propellers may be arranged in sets of two on each side of thecabin in, front of and at the rear of the fuselages 5 that are fixed tothe cabin (Fig. 16) and contain. the motors for driving the screwpropellers.

It is to be understood that the arrangements shown are given solely byway of example and that the constructional details may vary according tocircumstances. The rolling track composed of two parallel cables whichis particularly suitable for electric traction, may if desired consistof a single cable. On the other hand, the screw propellers may bereplaced by any other aerial propelling devices. The rollers of thecarriages may be mounted on ball bearings and may be provided with anyapparatus for insuring their lubrication under pressure at high speeds.

What I claim is:

1. In an aerial transporter, the combination of two track cables locatedparallelly side by side constituting a trolley cable track, two sidetrolleys running one on each of said track cables, a cabin supported bysaid trolleys, aerial propelling means for moving the trolleys and cabinalong said cable track, and an auxiliary supporting cable for preventingthe fall of said cabin in case of breakage of one of the track cables.

2. In an aerial transporter, the combination of a tower, a ramp 011 saidtower, a trolley cable track connected to said tower, a driving trolleywheel running on said cable track, an elastically mounted rollernormally in contact with said driving trolley wheel, adapted to moveaway from the axis of the latter in passing said tower, a guard cable,and a guard wheel, running on said guard cable for the purpose ofpreventing said driving trolley wheel from jumping oil? said cabletrack.

In an aerial transporter, the combination 01 a trolley cable trackconnected to a tower, a ramp on said tower, a trolley carriage withupper and lower wheels, running on said cable track, a fixed railbridging a section of said cable track, guide pulleys, a chain attachedat one end to said cable track near one end of said section, and passingover a guide pulley, a weight attached to the free end of said chain,and a similarly arranged and weighted chain attached to near the otherend of said section, whereby said cable track is kept taut by the actionof said weights, and as the trolley runs on said fixed rail, said rampmoves the lower wheels of said trolley away from the upper wheelsthereof so as to allow of the passage of the trolley arm.

4:. In an aerial transporter, the combination of two track cableslocated parallelly side by side constituting a trolley cable track, twoside trolleys running one on each of said track cables, a cabin locatedbetween the latter supported by said side trolleys, two cages containingmotors and aerial propellers, and connections for suspending said cagesfrom said side trolleys.

5. A modification of the aerial transporter specified in claim 4-,wherein the cabin contains propellers and electric motors, and issuspended below a cage which is located between the two track cables andcarries storage batteries.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HENRI OOANDA.

